Ohio voters disapprove 46 - 30 percent of the way Gov. John Kasich is handling his job, with
women disapproving 48 - 25 percent and men disapproving 44 - 37 percent, according to a
Quinnipiac University poll released today. Voters say 53 - 36 percent that Gov. Kasich's budget
is unfair to them.

Voters oppose legislation working its way through the Ohio legislature that would limit
the ability of public workers to collectively bargain, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-
ack) University survey finds. But the question wording has some influence on voter response:

Half of those surveyed were asked about a bill that limited "collective bargaining," and
oppose the measure 48 - 41 percent;

The other half were asked about a bill that limited "collective bargaining rights," and
oppose that measure 54 - 35 percent.

"Gov. John Kasich has gotten off to a rocky start with Ohio voters, perhaps not surprising
given the size of the cuts in public services and state spending that he has proposed," said Peter
A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling institute. "Although there is
almost nothing in these numbers that Kasich can point to as evidence of his popularity or that of
his proposals, he can take solace from the fact that he has almost four years to turn around public
opinion.

"The size of the gender gap in Gov. Kasich's approval rating is noteworthy. There also
are gender gaps on other questions regarding how to deal with the state's budget.

"Whether collective bargaining is a right or not is in the eye of the beholder, but the word
'right' appears to have an effect on the voters' response. But no matter how the question is
asked, voters oppose limits on collective bargaining."

By 55 - 37 percent voters say Kasich should not have pledged to meet the state's
projected $8 billion budget deficit by only cutting spending and not raising taxes. And by
64 - 23 percent they say he will not keep that no-tax pledge, even though he presented a
balanced budget plan that in fact does not raise levies.

Then when given a choice of balancing the budget only by spending cuts, or by
combining them and tax increases to reduce the amount of cuts needed, by 65 - 27 percent
voters opted for not raising levies at all.

"It's a pretty fair bet that the controversy over the Kasich proposals has made him and
them unpopular with voters. Yet when voters are asked about his general approach of cutting but
not taxing, that policy does much better in the court of public opinion," said Brown. "At this
point, Kasich has not convinced voters, especially women, that he is being fair, and he is on the
wrong side of the collective bargaining issue which has received major attention."

Voters oppose 58 - 35 percent banning public employees from striking, but they support
66 - 27 percent the part of Kasich's budget that would require public employees to pay at least
15 percent of their health insurance premiums.

By 46 - 39 percent voters oppose Kasich's plan to sell five state prisons to private firms
as a way to save money.

From March 15 - 21, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,384 registered voters with a
margin of error of +/- 2.6 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and the
nation as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or
follow us on Twitter.

1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way John Kasich is handling his job as
Governor?

12. (Split Sample) As you may know, there is a proposed law in Ohio that would
limit collective bargaining for public employees. Do you support or oppose
limiting collective bargaining for public employees?

13. (Split Sample) As you may know, there is a proposed law in Ohio that would
limit collective bargaining rights for public employees. Do you support or
oppose limiting collective bargaining rights for public employees?

16. The proposed law would require public employees to pay at least 15 percent
of their health insurance premiums. Do you support or oppose requiring public
employees to pay at least 15 percent of their health insurance premiums?

22. What do you think about the cuts in state spending that Governor Kasich has
proposed in order to balance the state budget? Do you think Kasich's cuts in
state spending go too far, not far enough or are they about right?

24. Which comes closer to your view regarding Governor Kasich's budget proposal:
A) Taxes should not be raised, there should only be spending cuts.
B) Taxes should be raised so that there will be fewer spending cuts.